Bloodsucking Creature on the Loose in China

Residents of Pudong, China, are on the lookout for a bloodsucking, web-footed creature that has killed and consumed the blood of hundreds of chickens, ducks and rabbits. Those who have heard of the chupacabra are keeping their goats locked up while villagers who fear worse are hiding their children and hauling out their vampire repellents. What is terrorizing Pudong?

Reports of the attacks began a few weeks ago in this village near Shanghai. Chickens were found with large bite marks but no other flesh wounds and their blood was gone. As word spread, reports of ducks and rabbits being killed also came out. Villagers set up 24/7 watches and set out traps with live chickens but have not seen the bloodsucking predator, just its victims … and one set of four-toed webbed footprints the size of a small hand. Four webbed toes? Has someone’s pet chupacabra – which many describe as a 3-foot-tall reptilian creature – escaped from its steel terrarium?

Is this the bloodsucker of Pudong?

Some are pointing their fingers at the nearby (2 km/1.25 miles away) Shanghai Wild Animal Park, which has no chupacabras but does have plenty of animals that eat chickens, ducks and rabbits. Officials there assured Pudong residents that no animals had escaped recently.

Chinese chupacabra trap

What else could be killing the local fowl and hares? Villagers say the bite marks are too big to be from a dog, domestic or wild, and the footprints don’t look canine, especially those webbed toes. They’re afraid that, now that the livestock is locked up, the creature will turn to children and small, slow-moving adults.

Witnesses say the webbed toes in the footprints don’t look like any known dog

Another bigger fear in this Pudong bloodsucking mystery is humans. Villagers are afraid the dead birds and rabbits will be cleaned up and sold at local markets (what do you think chicken nuggets are made from?) and any diseases the creature has will be passed on to people.

Is Pudong being terrorized by a bloodthirsty, chicken-instead-of-goat-sucking Chinese version of chupacabra – possibly a reptilian creature from the nearby Huangpu River? Is the Shanghai Wild Animal Park keeping an escaped killer quiet until it can be recaptured? Should Pudong diners avoid the moo goo gai pan, Peking duck and hot-and-spicy rabbit (Xiang La Tu Zi) for a while?

Paul Seaburn Paul Seaburn is one of the most prolific writers at Mysterious Universe. He’s written for TV shows such as "The Tonight Show", "Politically Incorrect" and an award-winning children’s program. He's been published in “The New York Times" and "Huffington Post” and has co-authored numerous collections of trivia, puzzles and humor. Paul likes to add a bit of humor to each MU post he crafts. After all, the mysterious doesn't always have to be serious.